Trans-Pacific trade pact to come into force on 30 Dec

A map showing the member states (in blue) participating in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. (Vector illustration by Gety Creative)

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) will enter into force on 30 December after it has been ratified by a majority of its members.

Vietnam is the seventh member country to ratify the CPTPP, joining Singapore, Canada, Japan, Mexico and New Zealand and Australia to ratify the pact.

There are 11 member countries in the CPTPP – including Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia and Peru – and together they account for about 14 per cent of the global economy.

The trade agreement also establishes Singapore’s first preferential trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. Once the deal enters into force, Canada and Mexico will eliminate tariffs on 99 per cent and 88 per cent of Singapore’s trade with these countries respectively.

The CPTPP is a revived version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership after the United States withdrew in January last year.

From 30 December, companies will be able to “export to CPTPP markets, substantially tariff-free and gain access to CPTPP goods and services markets, including government procurement opportunities”, the Ministry for Trade and Industry said in a statement Tuesday (20 November).

Updated rules in technical standards, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, services and investment, will address non-tariff barriers to trade, it added.

Once the deal is effective, 94 per cent of Singapore’s trade with CPTPP countries will be tariff-free, with the remainder being phased out over a longer timeframe, MTI said.